Gay and Lesbian Wedding Photography // the Trevor Project

This post is very close to my heart and I have been putting it together in my head for years now. How do I express my story & my thoughts in a way that strangers far and wide GET IT without even knowing me. The best way to approach it is always with love…because love wins. Being true to yourself wins. Speaking out wins.

There are still MANY of you from my past I have not come out to in the way that I would like but I am proud of my life and of who I am. I couldn’t always say that because I was ashamed. Some of us have been treated poorly and told that we were damaged goods by people we love and respect. Sometimes it takes a lot of work & even more soul searching to be confident and proud but like they say…it DOES get better. It is important to me that you know that through my photographs I want to tell my story. I want you to see a gay or lesbian couple in love and see LOVE. To say how can I deny someone that right to love another person? Recently, I have been asked to shoot more gay and lesbian wedding photography. It breaks my heart that some couples have come to me with stories of how their wedding vendors have denied them service for their wedding day because it makes them uncomfortable or because they have morals. The is one of the most memorable days of a human being’s life. There is no need for anything but love and happiness surrounding them. Love is love and I hope one day it can be referred to simply as “marriage” but for now I am so proud of the progress our country has made to support love…one step at a time.

I have always known that I was put here on this earth for a purpose. It involved helping others somehow, I just didn’t know how…until this summer. In July, a lesbian wedding I photographed in Los Angeles unexpectedly spread across the world. My photographs of Shannon & Seema’s love story reached places that I probably will never get to visit in this lifetime. My website crashed as the wedding photos started going viral. I was contacted by the media for interviews. It got insane for a couple of months! More importantly I was contacted by LGBT teens asking me how to be strong and come out to their parents. Over the last 5 months I have received emails from people saying they are changing their viewpoint on gay marriage after seeing these photos, that they are now ashamed of their previous stance on the topic. I was overwhelmed as I read these emails, I was all teary & sappy and all I could think of was how could I take this positive feedback and keep it going?

Today is the perfect day to give back…after all it IS Giving Tuesday. In order to give back to the LGBT community and in order to promote love: for every LGBT wedding I book in 2014 I am donating a portion to the Trevor Project. Please read about the Trevor Project and realize the importance of your words. “It’s not a gay thing. It’s not a straight thing. It’s a human thing.” Just be kind to others. We’re all we’ve got. xo Steph

To view more gay and lesbian wedding and engagement photographs visit the links below: